Gin no Kyuubi
by SilverLily aka Blood Moon
Summary: A violent brush with Akatsuki causes drastic intervetion by the Kyuubi. Naruto, now empowered with knowledge not his own, alters the future in ways never foreseen. NaruSaku
1. The Silver Path

Ah, well, my first Naruto story. For those of you that are veteran Naruto readers, aren't you amazed at the sheer amount of CRAP out there? Really, where are all of the good stories? The normal ones? There are so many bad cliches it's downright disgraceful.

Naa, well...here it is. Hopefully this old hag from the Yuugiou fandom can give Naruto some justice. Enjoy! (By the way, if you hadn't noticed, this is a Naruto/Sakura fiction. For those of you who don't like it, well, pfft. Face the facts. Sasuke's a villian, Naruto is awesome, and Sakura is going to stop being blindsided by preteen infatuation. So there. (Sticks out tongue.) )

_Gin no Kyuubi _

_The Silver Fox Demon_

The corridors were dark, dank, and smelly. The light source was unknown and indiscernible, as it came from no particular direction. The floor was covered in something that looked like water, but experience said it was something else entirely. It was thinner than sweat, unreflective, and smelled oddly like rotting sakura petals.

Naruto knew this place all too well. He walked down a particularly dark hall, fearless as venomous growls of a fearsome beast reverberated off the walls. He never thought it would come to this. He never wanted to admit he couldn't do it on his own. But the laws of nature...damn those laws. Damn them to the deepest pits of hell.

One person could not overpower a mass of assassins. Especially one person, no matter how trained, against the assassins of the red moon.

The giant gate of the kyuubi finally came into view. The tiny piece of paper that proclaimed 'seal' on it sat untouched and out of reach, as always. The blonde haired teenager raised his head and looked up at the beast inside. It was always so dark in there. Aside from red eyes of anger, Naruto had never truly seen what the face looked like. "Oi! Kyuubi! Wake up!"

The constant growl grew louder still. A torrent of wind rushed past him as the animal breathed out in anger. "**_You..._**" Its powerful voice hissed. "**_The weak, pathetic creature that is my cage..._**"

"Yeah, that's right. Listen up, damned fox."

With movement too fast for human eyes to see, the demon inside thrust its claws at the iron gates, but the seal wouldn't budge. "**_Let me eat you! When I get out of here, I will tear Konoha to shreds!_**"

Naruto was long used to the threats. "You'll do no such thing. Listen up, kyuubi. We're at a crossroads here. We have a decision to make, and if we don't make it now, both of us will die."

The fox laughed. "**_Is that so? Even the chakra I gave you is not enough? Pathetic worm!_**"

Naruto growled and bit down his retort. "_Baka!_ If Akastuki gets a hold of us, you know what will happen!"

The demon quieted down. "**_If only you weren't so weak. Then I wouldn't be bothered._**"

Naruto crossed his arms and reflected at how strange it was to hear a demon mumble. "Then decide. Now."

The growls quieted to a vicious purr. Water drops echoed in the long, empty corridor behind him. Reddish tan fur rubbed up against the iron gates as the creature contemplated. Naruto wasn't worried. It seemed he could spend hours wandering through the halls, and wake up in the real world and barely seconds had slipped by.

"**_Fine,"_** the demon spat. **_"However, there is one stipulation. I will give you as much power as your body can hold, and all of the knowledge I have concerning the arts of taijutsu, ninjustu, kinjustu, and genjutsu, but only if you release me before you die." _**

"_What!_" Naruto barked back. "And let you destroy my village anyway? Hell no!"

"**_Then we will die together._**"

Naruto crossed his arms. He would rather die than let the kyuubi out. "Fine."

Screams from the outside world entered the hallways of Naruto's subconscious. His very soul was screaming out in pain. The watery substance beneath his feet began to vibrate, and tiny rivulets of silvery liquid began to shoot out of the crevices of the walls. The silver liquid began to stain red.

"They're killing me," Naruto said.

The fox demon growled.

The ceiling above the gate began to shrink. The space the kyuubi inhabited started to grow smaller and smaller. A scratch appeared on Naruto's cheek. Blood dribbled down his lip. "Four..." he began to count. The iron gates grew smaller in size. The odd light source began to go out. "Three..."

So the fox was actually going to let it happen. Damned thing. Naruto's knees gave out underneath of him. He didn't want to die, but it seemed he had no choice. He'd miss everyone. If only Sakura had liked him more. He would always wish things had been better between them. He couldn't see the gates anymore. "Two..."

It was so dark...

And he was so alone...

He felt his heart beat hard, loud, and painfully. One last time...

"One..."

Before it was consumed in fire.

_xxx_

Jiraiya could only watch helplessly as Kisame's giant sword sucked away all of Naruto's chakra as it was thrust into his side. He himself was bound by ropes even a ninja couldn't break. Damn Akatsuki. Damn them all to hell. Naruto fell limp to the ground. There was a sickening 'thud' as he hit rocks and fallen wood. Jiraiya wouldn't doubt it if nearly every bone in the teenager's body was broken, busted, fractured, or chipped.

Kisame laughed, but Itachi looked on impassively. There didn't seem to be anything in the world that could rattle him.

"This should finish it," the strange fish man said as he lifted his gnarly sword one last time. "Dead enough so we can do whatever we want with him." And he swung down hard. The distinct noise of skin being torn from muscle vibrated in Jiraiya's ears. Kami-samma, he'd never be able to sleep another day in his life after tonight...

"Are you done yet?" Itachi asked of his comrade. His otherwise bored voice seemed to make Jiraiya's desperate situation even worse.

Kisame started wrapping the samehada back up in cloth. He laughed."That was more fun than I thought it wou-"

In a heart shattering moment, the laughter of Kisame was ended with a '_thwump.' _Naruto's white haired sensei looked at a tree next to him to see Kisame pinned up against it, a shaft of electric red chakra sticking out of his chest. The energy sizzled and popped before it disappeared completely and allowed the Akatsuki member to fall to the ground, dead.

Naruto was standing again, alive and awake, but once again the characteristics of the demon inside of him began to show. His eyes were red and slitted, he cheeks hinted at whiskers, his canines had grown, he had claws instead of fingernails, and the chakra around him flicked and swayed like that of tails.

It was different this time, though. It felt stronger...more potent than ever before. Naruto turned his head and looked at him, and he suddenly realized why. He'd seen that look before, a long time ago. He'd seen the bloodlust that filled that grin. He'd had nightmares about it. It wasn't Naruto that was looking at him. It was the kyuubi. "_Long time no see, kisama._"

How? Had Naruto's spirit died? Did the kyuubi take over? Was _that_ what it was waiting for? But how did it get pass the seal?

Naruto's body growled and snarled, and as he threw his head back and flung out his arms, eight different chakra infused kunai leaped out at Itatchi, whilst a dozen others headed towards the other members of the red moon that were present.

Naruto's claws dug into his hair. "Damn fox! Get out of my head!"He whipped around, and his chakra tails cut down three trees.

"_Idiot child! How else am I supposed to give you this information!" _

Oh, god. They'd merged.

The ground beneath his sandaled feet compacted under the immense pressure of the red energy. He'd start an earthquake if this kept up. Three assassins charged Naruto. The red chakra began to swirl around him and encircle him, like a giant form of the _rasengan._

"By not taking control of me!" He screamed, and the giant _rasengan_ exploded out from him. Jiraiya realized what an awesome ultimate defense that would be, if only he had the chakra to do it.

Two of the assassins fell dead at Naruto's feet. Itachi and the other assassin vanished from sight. Once again, Naruto screamed out of pure frustration, and a battle of wills ensued.

"_Let me in...!" _

"Never!"

"Naruto!" Jiraiya called out. "You can fight him! Keep him locked up! You can do this!"

"_Uresei, kisama!" _The kyuubi barked.

"Naruto!"

Naruto fell to his knees, and the earth rumbled. Trees toppled over. Blood fell down in rivulets around his blonde head from where his claws were digging into his scalp. "Ero-sennin!" He closed his eyes in pain. Why did his brain hurt so much at the moment?

'_Stop fighting, baka. You're going to make this headache ten times worse the more you fight me.' _

The silent words of the kyuubi resounded within his skull like a lead sledge hammer hitting the inside of a giant bell.

'_I'll never let you out.'_

'_I know that. The only reason you're still alive now is because your will is too strong for your own good. Now shut up and absorb this information before we kill ourselves.' _

Naruto opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. "Nani?" Was all Jiraiya heard him whisper before the high concentration of chakra exploded into the surrounding landscape. He was knocked unconscious before he could even understand what just happened.

_xxx_

The sky was the brightest blue he could remember seeing for ages. Fluffy clouds of the variety children love to gaze at strolled lazily across the sky. A bird chirped somewhere.

Ye gods, why did he feel like he had a bad sake hangover? He suddenly realized why and sat up in an instant. "Naruto!" The landscape swayed before his eyes, and he had to stop and steady himself. Perhaps that hadn't been such a good idea. "Naruto!" He called out again. He began to panic when he heard no answer. "Naruto!"

He stood up on wobbly legs and somehow managed to balance himself out. Strange...his wrists were no longer bound. He looked down at his hands and immediately wished he hadn't.

The ropes were definently gone. In fact, he was surprised his hands weren't gone too. His very skin had been burned away. Second and third degree burns covered his hands, most of his arms, and, oh god...He touched his face. Scratches, boils...no actual flesh gone. "Oh, no..."

The ground was covered in blast marks that led to the epicenter of the disaster. He followed the path slowly, making sure he didn't stumble and fall. Hitting his skin on anything would be very painful.

Step...step...step...

His knees wobbled. _Easy, steady, don't fall. Whatever you do, don't fall down._

Jiraiya came to the edge of a hole in the ground the size of a large crater. Down in the center, flat on his back, he could just make out the outline of Naruto, completely unconscious. _I wonder how long we've been out._

After about an hour and a hefty amount of cursing, the Sannin finally made it to the bottom of the crater. Naruto was, as he expected, for the most part unharmed. A small line of crusted blood was at the corner of his mouth and down his chin, but otherwise, the wounds Kisame had so happily afflicted on him were gone. The kyuubi's chakra had healed him, like it always did.

But was it Naruto that was still in control?

"Naruto!" he barked and nudged at the teenager's side. "Naruto!" He kicked again, a little harder than before. He probably should have felt bad, but his sinister side was pissed off that he was the only one left wounded. "Wake up!" He kicked again. He would have used his hands, however, in their state he doubted he'd have been able to pull apart chop sticks. Naruto snorted and moved his head a bit. Drool started to drop onto the blood by his mouth. "Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled again.

Two sapphire eyes blinked open ever so slowly. "Nnhn?"

Jiraiya sighed a sigh of relief. It was still Naruto.

"_Eneh...ah...chiwe'o kenaaaah..." _

Jiraiya blinked, confused. "Naruto?"

"_Ekehl ste bah!"_ He rolled over, making to go back to sleep.

"_Naruto!"_

Naruto rubbed his head tenderly. "Perverted hermit...my head hurts..."

The Sannin knelt down carefully by his pupil. "Naruto, what did you say before?"

The teenager rubbed at his chin. "_Eken'weh._ That's what it was."

Eken'weh? Why did that sound strangely familiar? "What is that?"

Naruto blinked in confusion. "I don't know."

Jiraiya went to rub his head as he thought, but decided against it. His hands were still a mess. '_It must be something the fox demon knew. I wonder how much other information leaked through.' _"Naruto, what did the kyuubi do to you? Can you think of anything else in your head you don't understand?"

Naruto yawned. "He taught me stuff."

Jiraiya paused. "Taught you? Taught you what?"

The teenager looked at the sky blankly. "Everything."

_xxx_

'_Taught you? Taught you what?' _

_...'Everything.' _

Jiraiya hadn't thought too much of it before, but as Naruto demonstrated his prowess in chakra draining water techniques, he began to understand. The kyuubi had actually taught him _everything._

"Oi, Oi, Ero-Sennin! Watch this!" Naruto grinned widely and stood with pride. "Even Fuzzy-Eyebrows can't do this!"

Fuzzy-Eyebrows...oh, yeah. That Lee kid. Gai's student. If the old hermit was right, that was the Genin that could only do taijutsu, right? Close combat fighting techniques only. Lee couldn't mold chakra if his life depended on it. There was a lot that Naruto could do that Rock Lee couldn't.

"_Pop!"_

Jiraiya's train of thought was derailed as a sound of chakra energy 'popping' could be heard.

"_Pop!"_

Naruto started to turn red, and chakra began to flow out of him at an alarming rate.

"_Pop!" _

Oh, _God_ no... "Naruto! You idiot, stop it! Don't open those life gates!"

The blonde shinobi simply laughed.

"_Pop!_"

The nine life gates. Chakra flowed through a circulatory system, much like blood runs though a person's veins. Forcing open the 'gates' of chakra allowed the energy to flow at an enormous rate. So much energy would literally burn a person to death. Lee could only open five of the gates, and even doing that many nearly killed him. Naruto started to perform some strange seals even Jiraiya hadn't seen before. What was he going to do? But, as another '_Pop!' _was heard, Naruto's chakra began to turn from red to...pink?

"_Pop!"_

"Almost there!" Naruto cheered, and continued to perform hand seals. He was moving too quickly for Jiraiya to even follow any more.

"_Pop, pop, pop!" _

"All right!" Naruto boomed, then drove his fist at the ground. The hermit's good sense told him to jump, and thank goodness he did, for as his sandaled feet left the ground his pupil left a crater in the earth five miles wide. Jiraiya's descent to the earth was much longer than his ascent up. When he landed again, Naruto was standing there, but the chakra that had been around him was gone.

"Naruto...how..."

"Nah, it's really easy, now that I think about it. I just have to perform a bunch of these strange seals that I learned from the kyuubi and I can keep myself from getting damaged by the opening of the life gates." He smiled and scratched the back of his head.

Jiraiya realized that Naruto's abilities were now completely over his head. The sort of things he'd been seeing lately simply _weren't done._ They _couldn't_ be done. How the hell could Naruto make a water dragon that was solid enough to break bones? Or wind vortexes that could battle a tsumani's awesome force?

For the past week, he and Naruto had been trying to figure out all the kyuubi had taught him, and how far he could go with those abilities. Naruto only had so much chakra, after all, and by right _shouldn't_ be able to do most of the things he knew about.

Thank some deity for his instructor that Naruto couldn't use things such as, say, the Sharingan, or the Hyuuga's clan 'byakugan,' the blood inherited eye techniques that allowed the owner to see things no other living being could.

There were some things his blood just wouldn't allow.

But, oh, if he could open all of his life gates and _not get harmed_? There was no creature on the earth that could stand in his way.

Accept, of course, perhaps one.

"Naruto, what did the kyuubi teach you about the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

The blonde stopped his cheering for a moment and stood still. His deep blue eyes got a strangely intelligent look in them, something that hadn't happened before the kyuubi's 'lesson.' "It's strong," Naruto said at last. "And I don't have the ability to combat it, if he's ever able to apply it to me."

That 'he' of course could mean one of two people; Itachi or Sasuke, the last surviving members of the Uchiha clan, and two of the last three Sharingan owners alive. Or maybe both.

Naruto shook his head. "Spiritual torture is nasty, and always has a permanent affect. Kyuubi could try and fight it for me, but the success rate is still low." He rubbed his chin. "An overlay persona would fix that, but I don't have one."

Overlay persona? Where had he heard of that before... Obscure ANBU files mentioned something about its use in times before time... were there still people left who had one? An alternate soul within themselves that held emotions that shouldn't otherwise be used, overlay personas could also defend one's mind in the direst of times. Torture didn't work against them either, because the person's mind could literally 'hide' in that persona, and they wouldn't feel anything or be able to reveal any information.

Mangekyo Sharingan was a dangerous technique that sapped a lot of chakra from the user. If eye contact was made to those dangerous red and black eyes when a Mangekyo was being afflicted, hours and hours of spiritual torture were induced in a matter of seconds. There was nothing to combat it except to not make eye contact, or an overlay persona, another blood line limit that could be inherited.

"Naruto, do you know if there is anyone who still has an overlay persona?"

He closed his eyes, crossed his arms and frowned. "Eh, not really. The Haruno clan _might_ still have something...but..." he shrugged. "Who knows."

The Kyuubi had been around for a long time, and remembered well the details of his adversaries. And his adversaries were many, vast, and varied.

Jiraiya sat down and crossed his arms. "Naruto, there is nothing else I can teach you. I suggest we head back to Konoha."

"But, Ero-Sennin, we've still got six months left before the three year training session is up."

Jiraiya sighed. For all that he'd learned, Naruto still was rather dense at times. _"Naruto!_" He said in exasperation. "If you already know everything, what is there left to teach you?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Right." Suddenly, he stopped smiling and blinked. His mind had wandered around to Sakura again, and the thought of Sakura also inspired the thought of what his other team mate had been doing. And she'd been training under Tsunade, the medical specialist ninja who was the Hokage of their village, and one of the most powerful ninja he knew. "Oi, Ero-Sennin, I know something the kyuubi couldn't teach me."

"What, respect for your elders?"

Naruto stuck out his tongue. "No. I still don't know any medical ninjutsu."

The Sannin took pause at that. Of course, the kyuubi wouldn't know any of that, would he? He'd know how the green chakra of medical ninjutsu _worked,_ but he would be able to practice it. He wouldn't have needed to anyway. He healed all on his own. "I wonder how many other things the kyuubi never bothered to learn."

Naruto knew of one thing, but decided not to say it out loud. The kyuubi had never bothered to mate, and now that it was sealed it apparently _really_ wanted to. And the damned demon's psyche was pushing Naruto to find out what it was like for him. _'Stay out of my love life, stupid fox.' _

'_Don't insult me, brat. Besides, I already know of your desires for the pink haired flesh bag. I find myself interested in what she tastes like.' _

His skin crawled in disgust. '_I'll crush you.' _

The fox laughed in deranged glee. '_I'd like to see you try.' _

"Naruto!"

"Huh?" His eyes cleared as his sensei's voice entered his stream of thought.

"What are you doing? I've been telling you for a couple minutes now that we need to start heading back. Akatsuki is reforming, and we need to inform Konoha what's going on."

"Oh, eh, gomen. I was...ah, talking to the kyuubi."

_Now they're talking to each other? This could get really complicated. _

_xxx_

Konohagakure's wooden gates stood proudly open, welcoming home its ninja and enticing its prospective clients. Naruto stood tall and grinned as he looked at those gates. Oh, it had been so _long..._ He smiled widely. '_It's good to be back.' _

"Hey, Naruto! And Jiraiya! Welcome home!" Genma and another Jounin stood inside the gates and smiled. Watch dogs were laying down next to them, sensing no smell of alarm.

"Yo," was all the frog hermit said.

Naruto snorted. "That's original." Then he grinned. "I'm off to find people. See ya!"

A look of indignation cross the white haired hermit's face. "Naruto! We still have to report to the Hokage!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get there." He waved off his teacher and headed into the village.

Jiraiya sighed. "Some things never change." In a puff of smoke, he too was gone.

The village seemed quiet and docile. It seemed not much had changed in the past three years. Shops were open, people were about, and ninja walked about on their daily business. The office of the Hokage was a hive of activity, much like it always was. In fact...perhaps it would be a good idea to go there anyway. Sakura could be there training under Tsunade, and if she wasn't, the old hag should at least be able to tell him where she was. That was, of course, if she was in a good mood that day. Just as Naruto turned his feet to head in that direction, a person that was riding a large white dog that was nearly the size of a moose ran up to him.

"Oi! Naruto! Long time no see!"

"Kiba!" Naruto waved back at the black haired ninja, a friend he had made during the Chuunin exam. "A-Akamaru?" Naruto asked as he looked uncertainly at the dog.

"Oh yeah!" Kiba said. "That's him."

"He's gotten so big!"

Kiba looked puzzled. "Really? I hadn't noticed, I guess."

Naruto shook his head. He couldn't understand how Kiba hadn't noticed. Just two and a half years prior Akamaru often took to riding inside of Kiba's jacket rather than walk.

"You've gotten taller, though," Kiba noted. In fact... once he dismounted, Kiba looked _up_ to Naruto.

"Oh, really?" the blonde asked. He touched the top of his head, as if feeling it would tell him how many inches taller he was compared with nearly three years ago.

'_This conversation is platonic,'_ the kyuubi's deep voice rumbled in his head. '_Do something more interesting.'_

Naruto visibly snarled. '_Go stick your head in your ass! Quit poking your nose where it doesn't belong!_'

Kiba noticed Naruto's face change and wondered if he said something wrong. "Hey, what's the matter with you?"

Naruto shook his head. "Eh, nothing. Just remembering something Ero-Sennin said," he lied.

The dog centric shinobi nodded, but obviously didn't believe it.

"Naruto!"

Both of them were interrupted when a man wearing a green vest greeted them, a blonde haired woman walking next to him. Her forehead protector proclaimed proudly who she was. "Shikamaru, Temari! Wow, you two on a date?" Naruto chuckled.

"No," the Shikamaru said. His face looked bored as usual, which effectively hid the massive intellect hidden inside of his head.

"Like I'd go on a date with anyone as annoying as him," the woman scoffed. She was a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Sand, as her forehead protector so proclaimed.

"There's a new Chuunin exam coming up," Shikamaru explained. "I've got to be an examiner for some of the matches."

"Chuunin exam?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah," Kiba said. "We've all become Chuunin already."

"What?" he asked bewildered.

"Yup," Shikamaru said. "And Neji, from the class above us, and Kankuro of the Sand, and Temari, are already Jounin."

Naruto frowned. He was the only Genin left from his year? That was...disheartening. "Heh," he chuckled. "I'll take it again, then. I'm going to pass this time! You'd better believe it!"

Shikamaru eyed him with one of his odd looks. Then he shrugged. "Ugh, how troublesome."

The day passed. Naruto found nearly everyone, including the blonde kunoichi Ino, and Chouji, the overweight ninja. In fact, he kept getting distracted from going to the Hokage's office as he had tried to do so earlier. As the day went into night, the kyuubi got more and more bored, and caused Naruto to become more and more annoyed. He much preferred it when the demon ignored him unless he was in dire danger.

And he still hadn't found who he was looking for. _"_Bah. Perhaps I won't find her till tomorrow," he said to himself. He finally made it to Tsunade's office around dinner time, hoping Sakura would be there training, only to find out she had left for the day. Tsunade acted as though Naruto hadn't even been gone and ordered him to write up a report on his training. She probably wouldn't believe a thing Naruto had to say about it, but oh well. That was her problem, not his.

Actually, he wasn't looking forward to going home. His apartment was probably going to have about three years of dust in it, probably some gnarly looking dirty dishes, and some new residents of the rodent kind. He frowned. He wasn't looking forward to cleaning it. And his garden would be a mess, too, no doubt. There would be nothing in it but weeds.

Naruto walked up to his door and checked around. His spare key should be in a tiny slot on the inside of the molding of the door. He ran his fingers over the edge of it and found it. Yup, right there. No one had taken his key. He inserted it and turned.

There was no click.

His door was unlocked. He hadn't forgotten to lock it, had he? He was _sure_ he'd locked it. Too many people had tried to sabotage his living quarters before. It was only after he was older did he realize it was because of the adults that knew of the kyuubi inside of him, but it hurt just the same. He swallowed, prepared himself for the damage, and opened the door.

The first thing he noticed was the fact that a large puff of dust didn't billow out to him in greeting. The next thing he noticed was how his apartment didn't smell like ramen and corn chips. It almost smelled like...sakura petals. He frowned. _I don't keep perfume in my place. That's _way_ too girly._

He didn't have the wrong apartment, right? He wouldn't have forgotten were it was _that_ easily, would he?

He walked in. "Hello?" A light was on.

The sound of a woman cried out in the kitchen. Maybe he _did_ have the wrong place.

A woman with pink hair rounded the corner and looked at him. Naruto found himself starring into startled green eyes. "S-Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto!" she blushed.

Naruto noted that she was holding a feather duster, and had a dish towel slung over a shoulder. She looked kind of cute in the red apron she had on. And those black boots! _'Damn, those are sexy.'_

The kyuubi laughed. '_That girl could tear you apart, brat. I remember that Hokage of yours, Tsunade. This girl's chakra enduced brute strength makes the slug woman look like a kitten.' _

So she had gotten stronger in the past three years. "Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?"

She averted her gaze and mussed with her hair, which was still short. "Uh...well, I know that you've been gone a long time, and well...I couldn't just let this place go like that, you know..." She gave a nervous grin. "Couldn't let the foul smell go through all of Konoha, now could I?"

It was a lame excuse, but he didn't care. "Sakura-chan, you didn't have to do this!"

She seemed to regain her composure. "I know. You caught me on my weekly cleaning day. I've been coming once a week for about a year now. That's why I left training early today."

Despite the fact that she had on an apron, Naruto could clearly see that Sakura had developed a lot of curves. Particularly in her bust and hip area. After all, they'd only been twelve when he left, and three years later, they were both now fifteen. She had developed...much more than Naruto had anticipated. _'Don't drool, baka, because then she'll really deck you._' He tapped his foot nervously on the ground. "Ne, Sakura-chan, would you like to get something to eat with me? I haven't exactly had dinner yet, and I'm kinda hungry, and well, if you hadn't had anything to eat yet..."

Sakura grinned. "Fine, but only if you're buying."

'_Fine. She said fine! Yahoo!'_ Naruto gave her a toothy grin. "You bet!" He was finally able to go out with Sakura-chan!

Sakura took off the apron and put down the feather duster and dish towel. She didn't really want to tell him the real reason she had decided to start maintaining his apartment.

It was true, she'd started about a year ago. In fact, about a year ago, depression began to overtake her. Her heart ached to see someone from her team again. She had no idea how much she'd miss Naruto before he left, and she found herself wishing for his company more and more each day. One day in particular had been incredibly grievous for her during training. She remembered the night well.

_Sakura stared at her hands in horror. Deep red blood ran through her fingers in sticky rivulets to drop on the floor in a nauseating monotony. _

_Drip..._

_Drip..._

_Drip..._

_Tsunade had said that it wasn't her fault. No once could predict the fact that her first critical patient would be beyond even her mentor's help. 'It's not your fault,' Tsunade had said. 'You can't heal melted organs. No one can.' _

_But the poor man's screams...So much screaming..._

_Drip..._

_Drip..._

_Drip..._

_His eyes were drowning in agony. 'Please!' he had pleaded with her. Blood had then spouted of his mouth in a shower of red. Her hair was suddenly a few shades darker. 'Make it stop...help me...' _

_He died at her hands. His blood stained her skin. She may have had gloves on, but it didn't matter. She was stained. She was useless! She couldn't do anything! _

_A clear tear drop fell on her hand. It caused the red blood to turn pink. _

_The next thing she knew, she was running in a blind panic. Logic told her crying would solve nothing, and her heart screamed for comfort. _

'_Screamed just like the voice of the dying ninja I couldn't save...!' _

_She was at Naruto's apartment door. But Naruto wasn't there. Why would she be here? She should clean up. She should go home. _

_Face her parents with this failure..._

_The door had been locked, but that didn't seem to matter. Sakura found herself kneeling in a pile of wood splinters and sobbing harder than when she thought Sasuke, her estranged teammate, had died. The apartment was cold, it was dark, and it was dirty. No one had been there for well over a year. Of course it was dirty. Naruto had left in quite a hurry, and she found that the site of his bed, his pictures, his few spare clothes hanging in the closet that he couldn't fit in his pack, a comfort. _

_She suddenly realized that there was at least one thing that she could do to make herself useful, even if that one person didn't realize what she was doing for them. It was something that she could do, and she could do it right. She dried her tears, bathed in Naruto's bathtub, dressed in one of his black shirts and gray shorts and started to clean. She swept all of the wood splinters out of the door. She did the dishes, she swept, she moped, she replaced the door, washed the sheets and made the bed. She was up until the beak of dawn. At some point she fell asleep, on Naruto's bed, and realized that either Tsunade had given her the day off, or no one thought to look for her there, for the day had passed and it was well into evening and no one had gone looking for her. _

_The whole session had been rather therapeutic, in a strange way, and she found that once a week cleaning the apartment had kept her sanity more than stable. _

She sometimes found herself eating there, thus needing to do the dishes that she created. His apartment became a bit of a retreat for her, actually. No one thought to look for her there. She was always able to get some quiet time to reflect, and a chance to ease the ache in her chest as she looked upon Naruto's things.

She only wondered once if he would mind, then realized he probably wouldn't, and never thought about it since. She never thought she'd actually get caught doing it, though. Now, she felt a little silly.

"I think Ichiraku Ramen is still open," she suggested.

His grin had never been wider. "Great!"

Naruto's one weakness was ramen, and Sakura hoped that mentioning the treat would take his mind off the fact that she had been breaking into his place frequently for about a year.

They walked out of the door and headed down the street. Sakura glanced over at him and looked...up. "Naruto, you grew!"

He looked at her and gave her a toothy grin. "And I got new clothes, too. I trained so hard, Ero-Sennin caused all of my old stuff to wear out completely."

Sakura did have to admit, the black and orange looked better on him than the blue and orange that he used to be so inclined to wear. His face had lost a lot of its baby fat, too. "Did you learn a lot?"

Naruto's face lost its smile and his eyes suddenly looked very far away. "Uh, yeah. Quite a lot, actually." He smiled again, a good indication of a subject change. "What about you? Did you learn a lot with Tsunade Obaa-chan?"

Sakura grinned. "I am now a fully fledged, fully trained Medical Ninja of the highest degree."

Naruto's face beamed. "That's awesome. Now, we'll be able to go after Sasuke together, and bring him back together."

Yeah...Sasuke...Their Uchiha teammate who ran off with the greatest threat to Konoha since the kyuubi attacked so many years ago. Sasuke was intent on nothing but revenge. His brother, Itachi, killed their entire clan single handedly, and now Sasuke wanted to kill him.

At all costs.

Sakura began to wonder if it was worth it to save him anymore. Naruto promised he would bring Sasuke back to her, as she believed that she loved him, and Naruto never broke his promises, even if it meant his life. Strange thing was...Sakura knew just how much Naruto liked her, _loved _her even, and yet he was doing this, just to make her happy.

Sasuke would have never done that for her.

"Ne, Sakura-chan," Naruto began.

"Hm?"

"Are you a Chuunin, too?"

"Aa. I passed the exam after taking it again about a year and a half ago."

Naruto frowned. "Oh."

"You should take it again, Naruto. There's another one next week. You'll pass it, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I know I will," he said without hesitation. "But...how am I going to get around the fact that I don't have a three man team?" he asked nervously.

"That's easy!" Sakura laughed. "There are plenty of people that have to retake it after they failed and other members passed. You'll just get paired up with other people, like me and a bunch of other people do."

"Oh!" Naruto said. "That makes sense." His shoulders relaxed. "I can't wait. I'll be a Chuunin, too."

"You should hurry," Sakura said. "Jounin exams will begin shortly, too."

Naruto looked at her in confusion. "There are Jounin exams, too?"

"Yeah, but they're more individual based. Jounin is a special level ninja, after all, so no one is allowed to know too much about the selection process. Tsunade said that I qualify for the exam when it comes around in the next few months."

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I won't fall behind!" Naruto gave one of his 'nice guy' smiles and a thumbs up. She only hoped so. Jounin had to have a lot of skill, and a lot of brains, and even though Naruto continued to surprise people, she didn't know if he could quite cut it to make Jounin rank.

Ichiraku ramen appeared in view as they rounded the corner. Naruto ran up to the counter and cried out in joy. "Hey! Old man! Three bowls of pork ramen! On the double!"

"Hey, Naruto! My best customer! Welcome back!"

"Oh! And spicy shrimp for Sakura-chan!"

Sakura sat down next to Naruto quietly. _He remembered my favorite flavor..._


	2. Pride and Chopsticks

_Gin no Kyuubi_

_Chapter 2_

Tsunade downed the last of her sake and slammed her cup on the desk. "Shizune! More sake! I've got a lot more paperwork to get through, and I need some support."

"But, Tsunade-sama!" the black haired woman across the desk from her exclaimed. "You need to stay sober to get through all of this!"

"_Shizune!_" the Hokage barked back. "Sake! Now!"

Just as Tsunade's attendant sighed and stood up, there was a vicious pound at the Hokage's door. "Tsunade-Obaa-chan!" an all too familiar voice called.

"What do you want?" she grunted, then flipped to a new document that needed a signature.

The door opened and a callused fist slammed down onto her desk. "I want to take the Chuunin exam again!"

Tsunade looked up at intense blue eyes that were set with a rigid determination. _Some things never change,_ she thought to herself. "Aa, I figured you would." She dug through some of her files and found the one she was looking for at the bottom of one of the many large stacks. "Here." She tossed it at Naruto without even waiting for a response. "Information on your two new team members for the exam."

"Yatta!" Naruto bellowed and picked it up. "I'm going to beat all of my opponents _and_ become a Chuunin this time. You just watch!" He turned to leave the office.

"Naruto!" Tsunade warned.

"_Nandattebayo?" _Naruto asked in annoyance.

"Don't you dare even _think_ about carrying your other teammates to victory through the Forest of Death. This is their test, too. Let them do some of the work."

Naruto turned back, and as she looked up there was a strange look of intelligence in his eyes she'd never seen before. "I will pass this exam, Tsunade. I will become a Chuunin. I will not be left behind. _Not_ anymore." His unspoken words held more volume than his spoken ones. _I will do whatever I have to in order to pass. If I happen to carry the team, so be it._ He turned around and waved goodbye. "Later, granny!" His flash of intelligence passed, and he was back to his old self again.

Tsunade smiled through her growl. "Stop calling me that!"

_xxxxx_

Naruto sat down at his small table in his apartment and opened up the file. A bowl of instant ramen sat steaming next to his glass of milk. He scrunched his nose up in concentration as he looked at the paper in front of him.

_Name: Seneshou Kanide_

_Rank: Genin_

_Team Members: Aosu Roku, Hakuni Anedo _

_Team Leader: Hagane Kotetsu_

Naruto looked up in thought and took a bite of his ramen. Where had he heard that instructor's name before? Oh, yes, he remembered. The Jounin that often worked with Genma. He always wore a long white bandage over his nose. He looked back at the paper.

_Abilites:_

_Taijutsu: 48 _

Naruto realized that '48' was about 48 percent proficiency. Normal for a Genin.

_Ninjutsu: 56_

_Genjutsu: 87 _

So... an illusion specialist. He could work with that. There were a million different ways to counter illusions, or genjutsu, and a million different ways to use them. He flipped to the next page.

_Name: Hakuni Anedo _

So...he got two members from the same team. It seamed that their only male member, Aosu Roku, had passed the last time they entered.

_Rank: Genin_

_Team Members: Aosu Roku, Seneshou Kanide _

_Team Leader: Hagane Kotetsu _

_Abilites: Taijutsu: 23_

Naruto winced. That was a pretty low ability for physical combat. It was an even lower number than what Sakura had when they first had their Chuunin exam, and that was before her monstrous strength had been gained.

_Ninjutsu: 13_

He winced again. No wonder she hadn't passed last time.

_Genjutsu: 49 _

Naruto sighed. He really had his work cut out for him. He'd make it work though. Without a doubt. After all, when he finally made it to Jounin, he would probably get pupils just like these Genin, and it would be his responsibility to train them, care for them, and keep them alive. He nodded. _I can do this. _ He took another bite of his ramen, then a sip of his milk.

There was a knock at his door. "Come in!" Naruto said. His door opened up and Sakura stood in the entryway. "Sakura-chan!" he smiled. "Ne, ne! Did you come here just for me?" He waggled his eyebrows in suggestion.

"Naruto!" she yelled back in frustration. "You perv!" She made a fist and went to deck him, but he dodged in time.

He held his hands up in defeat. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" He rubbed the back of his head. "What is it, anyway?"

She sighed. "Kaka-sensei wants us to meet him at the old training grounds. He wants to test our strength and get an idea of what we can do now before Tsunade-shishou starts assigning us new missions."

"Ooh! This should be fun! Besides, I've got a gift for him anyway. I haven't been able to find him since I got back."

Sakura nodded. "He's been away on a couple of S-rank missions lately."

Naruto closed up the file he was looking at. S-rank missions were secret missions which usually meant 'imminent suicide involved.' Kakashi was one of the select few Jounin in Konoha that could take those missions and come back every time. It made sense their sensei would be given a lot of those missions during the time their team was broken up. "When does he want to meet us?"

"Now."

Naruto grinned. "Which would mean in a couple of hours?"

Sakura shrugged. "Knowing him, probably." Hatake Kakashi was perpetually late for everything.

Naruto downed the rest of his milk and put the glass in his sink. "Let's go!" he said. "I'm ready for this!"

The training ground, which was located in the forest, was devoid of all life, but for two teenagers sitting under the shade of a large oak tree. Naruto had his eyes closed, and his arms crossed behind his head as he rested against the tree. Sakura couldn't help but take notice of his changed appearance, once again. His hair was thicker and a little longer now, and she could begin to see pronounced muscles underneath of his coat. She kept thinking that his face reminded her of something she had seen somewhere...in a history book maybe? A famous profile she couldn't quite put her finger on...

His voice was deeper, too. She found herself shivering a lot more lately when he spoke, and it wasn't an unpleasant feeling at all. His eyes were thinner, too, and less...well...baby-like. _He looks like a handsome adult,_ she found herself thinking. _Who would have ever thought that clumsy Naruto could turn into something like this? _

There was a puff of smoke as their Jounin sensei made his appearance. "Yo."

"You're late," Naruto growled without bothering to open his eyes.

"Ah, I got lost on the road of life," Kakashi answered back.

"A likely story." He sat up and eyed his sensei. "Ne, Kaka-sensei! I've got a present for you!"

"Oh?" The one revealed eye of Kakashi looked a little less bored than it had a moment before. His other eye was perpetually covered by his forehead protector.

"Yeah!" He pulled a small book out of his back pocket. "Here!" He handed it over.

Kakashi visibly smiled underneath of his face mask. "The latest book in the Icha Icha series!"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, it hasn't even been released yet." He frowned, remembering the hell he went through to get that book from Jiraiya, who was in fact the author. "I'm telling you, though. I read it and it was really boring."

Sakura's face turned beat red. "You read that!" She roared. It was a well known fact that the _Icha Icha Paradise_ collection was a perverted book series that only Jiraiya, the perverted hermit himself, could write. Kakashi had already read the previous two cover to cover.

Sakura was disgusted when Kakashi giggled with glee. "Wonderful!" He hugged the book to his chest.

"So," Sakura ground out. "What are we doing?"

Kakashi cleared his throat and put the book reverently in his pocket. "Right. Anyway, we're going to have a second bell test. Now that you know what to expect, I suggest you take this seriously. I'm going to as well, and not read this time." He held up two little bells for them to see, then tied them to his belt. "Ready, go!"

In a flash, both students disappeared. Kakashi removed the head protector from covering his other eye, and revealed an eye that was red, with strange black spots around his pupil. His Sharingan eye.

Several kunai came hurdling his way. Kakashi dodged them easily enough. Suddenly three Naruto were in the air heading towards him. He jumped to the right.

"_Kage Bunhsin no Jutsu!" _Naruto yelled. Three new Narutos appeared in the air and pulled at his legs, which pushed him off in a different direction.

"That's clever!" Sakura said. He couldn't move in the air, so he used clones to move himself for him.

"You've matured, that's for sure," Kakashi said to his student. Shuriken came flying from Kakashi and with a pop and a few puffs of smoke, most of the clones disappeared. Kakashi grabbed Naruto and the weapon that he was holding, and directed it at him. The clone in his arms popped, and Kakashi could feel Naruto's presence behind him with a kunai pointed at his back. "Not bad," he chuckled, and with a flash was gone.

Genjutsu. He was hiding somewhere.

Sakura looked up, left, right, and down. "He's not anywhere else, so...below!" She pounded her fists into the ground. It sounded like an earth quake, and suddenly she was standing in the middle of a twenty foot long crater.

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Eh?"

Sakura smirked down at Kakashi hiding amidst the rubble. "Found you."

_Wha-what insane power,_ Kakashi thought, his eyes wide too. _The fifth, you didn't just teach Sakura medical ninjutsu, did you? _

Naruto smiled. _I should stop playing around in front of Sakura. She could kill me._

Kakashi thought about how she could possibly do such a thing. _She builds up the maximum amount of chakra in her fists, then releases it in an instant. Without precise chakra control, she could never do that. It's a real feat. Medical ninjutsu, plus amazing strength...no. That's not all. She was originally a genjutsu type. She may become an even better ninja than the fifth Hokage. "_All right, I should do something on my part, too," Kakashi said. He stood, and that was when the real fight began.

Not much to their surprise, the pursuit of the bells lasted well into the evening. Kakashi's Sharingan could always anticipate his opponent's next move, and his fighting skills were unrivaled. Naruto _could_ have disarmed Kakashi in an instant, but a nagging suspicion told him that there was no need to go to such feet. Why hurt the people that loved him the most? He'd find a way to get those bells without any physical damage. Besides, a ninja had to keep _some_ of their abilities a secret...

At last, Naruto and Sakura collapsed next to the very same tree they had been resting against earlier during the day. "I already knew it, but the Sharingan is amazing," Sakura conceded. "Not only that, his seal making is too fast for me to follow."

"Plus he has a nose better than Kiba," Naruto pointed out. "His taijutsu is better than Gejimayu, and he's smarter than Shikamaru."

"If we could just find his weak spot!" She said, flustered.

Naruto rubbed at his chin as he thought. "Ne, Sakura-chan! I think I know!" He motioned for her to come closer. Whatever they said, if they weren't careful, Kakashi would overhear them. So, he whispered his idea in her ear. She thought about it carefully, then grinned.

"You're right!" She said at last. "I can't believe he has a weak spot like that! You really are the number one ninja at surprising people, Naruto!"

Kakashi, who was in fact just a few trees over, was listening. His one true weakness that _he_ knew of, which he was sure they hadn't discussed, was the fact that the Sharingan used a lot of his chakra. Once his chakra ran out, he would be too tired to fight much longer. He would simply be out of stamina.

A strange tickling feeling poked at the back of his neck and caught his attention. "They're coming," he said to himself. _They have to be joking, making a direct attack like that..._

"Here we come!" Naruto said.

"Now, Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"Let's go, Kaka-sensei! THE LAST JOKE IN THE ICHA ICHA TACTICS! THE TRUTH IS THAT THE MAIN CHARACTER-!"

"Ah!" Kakashi cried, then covered his ears. "Don't tell me!" He also closed his eyes. _Because of my Sharingan, I might see what he's saying! _

Two seconds later, he turned around and saw his students smiling at him, a bell in each of their hands. "You have to look underneath the underneath, right sensei?" Naruto asked.

The Forest of Death sat behind the chain link fence, ominous in its darkness. Naruto grinned, a case of nostalgia causing him to grin. Granted, the last time he and his team went through the forest, they met up with the strongest, most vile ninja in the known world, Orochimaru. Naruto's grin turned into a wicked smile. This time, even if Orochimaru did show up, he'd be able to handle him.

But, the test never started out in the forest, it started out with the written part of the test, so Naruto finished his stroll alongside the forest and made his way to the testing building. He was to meet his new 'team' inside, and introduce himself to them. A lot of people were gathering around on the outside. However many were on the outside, Naruto was sure there would be twice as many on the inside.

Two people were sitting on a bench next to the door, and from the pictures he had been given in the profile, Naruto recognized who they were. He raised his hand and waived it to catch their attention. "Oi! Anedo! Kanide!"

The two girls, one with brown hair and the other with light blue, looked up at him. The one with brown hair waved back.

Naruto finally reached them and extended his hand for a shake. "Morning. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'll be your third partner for this exam."

"We know," the blue haired girl said, and took his hand for a shake. "I'm Seneshou Kanide."

"Hakuni Anedo," the brown haired girl said. "You look pretty old," she said bluntly. Kanide looked at her teammate and gave her an admonishing look.

Naruto simply shrugged. "I was away on a special training mission with Jiraiya for two and a half years. It can't be helped."

Kanide's eyes widened. "The Legendary Sannin!" She asked in surprise.

Naruto barked a laugh. "I don't know how legendary I'd call him."

"Maybe we'll have better luck at our first try than we thought," Anedo said.

Naruto eyed her. "I thought you guys had taken this once already."

Kanide shook her head. "Roku is out sick, and insisted that we take on a new member to take this exam."

Uh oh. This _was_ going to be harder than he thought. "Well then," he said at last. "There are two pieces of advice I can give you; do _not_ get caught cheating on the first test. I swear to Kami-sama, things will not be pretty if you do. Second, _do not give up._ **Whenever** the opportunity is given to you to quit, for god's sake don't do it. I'll get us through the Forest of Death, even if I have to carry the both of you. The written part of the test is the easy part. I'm sure we can do that. When it comes to individual battles, well, that's up to you. But the first two parts of this test are all about teamwork. _Don't quit._"

Both girls nodded without protest.

Naruto nodded, pleased enough with their response. "Good! Let's go inside." The two girls stood up and followed him in. Naruto realized they couldn't be any older than twelve or thirteen years of age. Pretty much the same age he was when he first took the exam. "Say," he said, "are you two rookies this year?"

"Yes," Kanide said. "We've only had about twelve D rank missions and one lower C class mission. I still am not sure why Kotetsu-sensei said we should do this."

"Nah," Naruto replied. "You'll do fine. I was a first year rookie when I first took this exam, too."

"Why didn't you pass?" Anedo asked him.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I beat all of my opponents. There wasn't a part of the test that I failed. But I was considered too reckless in my fight against Hyuugi Neji."

"A _Hyuuga!_" Anedo asked. "You actually _defeated_ Hyuugi Neji?"

He chuckled. "Aa. Even with all of my 162 tenketsu struck by him, too." Although he didn't turn around to look at them, he could practically feel the awe radiating off of them. Right now, he was a mystery to them, and one that was proving to be stronger than normal. After all, the tenketsu, the points of the chakra circulatory system that allowed chakra to flow through, were dangerous to close. A person couldn't move when all of those spots had been hit and closed, but Naruto not only _moved,_ but _fought_ with them closed and _still_ gathered chakra. No one else in history had ever done that before.

Just like last time, the waiting room was filled with ninja from all of the five major countries. There were even ninja from the Village Hidden in the Grass, and the Rain Village. There were a couple Naruto didn't recognize, but small villages popped up all of the time.

Sound wasn't there, but that was to be expected. They were at war with them, after all.

Anedo and Kanide stood next to each other, clearly nervous of the hard stares that bored into them. They were competition, after all, and needed to be defeated.

Naruto looked from the frightened form of the girls to the nasty stares of the other ninjas. A few ninjas looked particularly nasty, and he noticed they were from Rock, Konoha's mortal enemies. He pointed his finger out at everyone. "Keep looking, you losers! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to beat every single one of you!"

Some people's eyes grew wide, because they recognized the name and a few of the things he'd been reported doing lately. Others looked angry and ready to deck him.

He looked back at his two teammates. They seamed shocked at his outburst, but visibly relaxed a bit. He still felt good doing something like that, butt it was also for their benefit. They could use all of the support and encouragement they could get.

Three different teams got up from the tables and started walking up to him. One was from Grass, one was from Mist, and one was from Rock. "Say that again," a Grass ninja threatened as he cracked his knuckles.

"What, hard of hearing?" Naruto taunted.

A punch came flying his way. It landed in his stomach hard, and the Grass ninja smiled cruelly. Naruto's blue eyes looked at him and...winked?

"_Pop!"_

In a puff of ninja smoke, the shadow clone disappeared.

"Nani?" the confused ninja questioned.

Naruto rested his elbows on the shoulders of each of his teammates. "Looking for me?" he grinned cheekily.

"How the hell-!"

"Hey! Listen up, maggots!"

Naruto looked over at the mass of Konoha Jounin and Chuunin that appeared at the front of the room. He'd been anticipating them. If he was right in his suspicion, they didn't show up until the Genin in the room were good and wound up and started to fight each other.

"Any fighting outside of an official match will result in immediate disqualification!" the man at the front barked. Scars covered his face.

Naruto had a feeling his suspicion was correct. The more people to be disqualified, the better. They only let so many people pass each time, after all.

"The first part of this exam will now begin. The test will be a written test, and it will take place in exactly ten minutes. Now! Everyone! Into the class room!"

Naruto looked at the piece of paper in front of him. The questions were different this time, but equally hard. Half of the classroom was now empty, and he just prayed that Anedo and Kanide could put up with the psychological torture.

He himself wanted to giggle. He decided to try and figure out how to cheat this time and not get caught, and he came up with something that was absolutely perfect.

A shadow clone was disguised in a Henge no Jutsu so that it looked exactly like the ceiling that it was currently stuck to, thanks to a little chakra control. Also using a little kyuubi chakra to enhance his vision, he could clearly see all of the papers. Most of them were wrong, but there were a couple that were right. It so turned out that Anedo was incredibly intelligent, and didn't even need to cheat in order to figure out the questions. She could have good chakra control, just like Sakura, but not have a lot of chakra, and therefor be unable to do a lot of the ninjutsu most ninja were capable of.

'_So this is what all of you flesh bags do with the trees you cut down. Make paper for these ridiculous tests. I ought to swallow you all whole.' _

Naruto quietle growled. '_Shut up, stupid fox!'_

The kyuubi snorted in his head.

Once the clone had been cancelled, the clone's experience went straight to Naruto's head, and he wrote down the answers without even looking up.

"All right, time's up!" Ibiki, the test examiner, proclaimed. "There is one final question, so listen well! If you don't answer this last question correctly, you will be stuck as a Genin for the rest of your life! If you quit now, you'll be allowed to leave and retake the exam. However, if you fail, not only will you be stuck as a Genin, but so will all of your teammates. Now, anyone who wants to leave, do so now."

Half of the room got up. Now barely a fourth of the original group remained.

_Don't quit,_ Naruto thought. _I told them not to quit, they better listen to me!_

Anedo was in front of him. He saw her hand start to creep up, shaking as it did so. Obviously, the last question had gotten to her. He panicked. "Screw you, Ibiki!" he yelled suddenly. "You can't scare me! Give the final question!"

Ibiki glared at him. He obviously remembered the last time Naruto took the test, and the confidence he gave everyone else in the room when he yelled. Naruto grinned when Anedo put her hand back down quickly.

Everyone in the room was silent. "Fine." He turned around, and wiped down the blackboard. When he turned around again, he had a hint of a smile at his lips. "You all pass!"

"_What!_" Kanide screeched. "You gave us this impossible test, when if we just stayed until the end we _pass!" _

Naruto blocked out the noise when the explanation started. Yes, it was to test a ninja's information gathering ability. Yes, it was to see how well one could cheat and not get caught. Yes, it was necessary, yes, it was meant to be cruel. Yes, the final question was meant to test their loyalty to the team to never give up. All things he'd heard before.

Everyone stood up to leave. Naruto sat in his chair and stared back at the Jounin Ibiki.

"You know, Naruto," he said at last, after everyone else had left. "This is really like deja vu."

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "But I realized that my arrogance last time helped others make it through this part of the test. I couldn't fail now. I had to let my team know that we could do this. It worked, as I'm sure you noticed."

Ibiki shook his head. "You've really grown, Naruto. Get out of here. The Forest of Death awaits you."

He smirked. "I can't wait."

The girls stood in the doorway out of sight. Anedo looked to Kanide in astonishment. "Who is this guy," she whispered.

Kanide shook her head. "I don't know. I don't really remember hearing much about him. He's been acting arrogant like that for _us_?"

Anedo wrung her hands together. "Who would have guessed." She leaned in closer to her teammate's ear. "Let's hope he's this good in the forest."

Kanide could only nod her head as Naruto made his way up to them. "Ready?" he asked them with a smirk.

They nodded their heads in agreement.

_xxxx_

Oh, for those of you who'd like to know, that gibberish Naruto was saying in the previous chapter will be explained later. Also, some people didn't like how/pointed out the flaw of Sakura not liking spicy food. I wasn't that worried about it, I'd just read a couple of other fics where she consumed the same flavor, and thought it sounded fine. At least it wasn't a flaw like, say, Naruto loving sake instead of ramen. And a note about his two teamates for the exam:

They will NOT become constant characters in this fic. Reason number one for them being here, after three years have passed, we don't know any of the younger generation ninja. Number two, I did not want him to take it _with_ Konohamaru, Meogi, Udon, Hyuugi Hanabi, or anyone else from a clan that DOES have the potential to become regulars later on. These are simply non-biased views of him that will reflect the image the rest if the village will get of him later on. _Their actions and opinions of him are otherwise unimportant. _

(I hate it when original characters become more important than the anime they are inserted in. Yuck.)


	3. Memories

_Gin no Kyuubi_

_Chapter 3_

Anko, another Konoha Jounin, stood at the entrance to the forest. "The rule is there are no rules!" she was exclaiming. "Just try not to kill each other, got it! We lose enough ninja on missions." She passed out one scroll to each team. Naruto noted they got the earth scroll. "Each of you have one scroll. You'll need both the earth an the heaven scroll before you can enter the building in the center of the forest. I suggest you try not to take your time. You have four days. Now get going!"

Naruto stuffed the scroll in his bag, looked at his teammates for their affirmation, and headed into the forest. _I hope this doesn't take too long..._

The first day and night of their travel through the Forest was pretty uneventful. Kanide apparently had a vast fear of bugs, as she kept squeaking every few hundred feat, and Naruto could only wonder what she would do if she saw Aburame Shino, the ninja bug user who actually allowed his tiny bugs to live inside of him and feed off of his chakra in exchange for their use in battle.

On the dawn of the second day, though, Naruto found another team that was heading their way. The girls were still asleep. He had decided to get up and survey the area they were in. There were old blade marks and very old burn marks on some of the trees. Naruto realized with a jolt it was the very same area Orochimaru had first attacked him and the rest of Team Seven. He shook his head of that train of thought, however, and knew it would only lead him to trouble. Did Sakura have the same problem when she retook the exam?

The team that he ran into was actually group from the Villiage Hidden in the Mist.

Naruto created twelve clones and set up a trap with shuriken and hard, metal string. Within minutes, the ninjas were all wrapped up in string and unable to get out of it. Naruto grinned, having caught them incredibly unawares.

"Kuso!" one of them shouted.

Naruto landed in front of them. "So," he said in greeting. "Which scroll do you have?"

"Like we're going to tell you!" Another of the Genin shouted at him. Three clones punched each of them hard.

"What was that you said?"

One of them wheezed. "Earth. We have the earth scroll."

He blinked. "Oh, well then. That won't help us at all. Sorry to bother you." He stood, then turned back around. "Of course, you _could_ try and catch my team on our way to the tower, if you still haven't got the heaven scroll, so..."

He knocked each of them out, and left them tied up. They'd be out cold for a day or two, at least. "Sorry."

He turned and went back to Anedo and Kanide, only to see they'd woken up and followed him. "Wow, that was fast," Kanide replied. There were still a few leaves in her powder blue hair.

Naruto shrugged. "They didn't have the scroll we need, so I just knocked them out."

As it turned out, they couldn't find the scroll they needed till they were about a hundred yards away from the Tower, a day and a half later. Once the sun had finally reached it's zenith, Naruto and his team decided it would be a good idea to break for lunch and re-gather their bearings. Anedo was becoming visibly exhausted more and more as the hours progressed, and Kanide's stomach could be heard growling, at least by sensitive ears, at least fifty feet away. Of course, all they had was the bland, flavorless ninja food that was high in calories and low in sugar. They needed a lot of energy to sustain their activity, and unlike homemade food that made a person smile, the ninja food would keep them alive and moving quickly.

Just as they were wrapping up their garbage and securing their weapons, Naruto's ears perked when he heard a suspicious noise in the grass. He moved his eyes around without moving his head. Yes...right there...

Movement in the tall brush.

"Oi, Anedo, Kanide," he said lowly. He then used his hands and made the most rudimentary signals that all Konoha ninja learn in the academy. _Enemies near._

Anedo's face paled. Kanide's jaw locked up, and followed Naruto's line of sight into the tall grass.

Without making a sound, Naruto created a few shadow clones and had them surround their area. He then created a substitution for himself. "You know," he called out loudly. "You three are _terribly_ at sneaking up on your enemy."

Three kunai darted out of the grass at them. Naruto saw Kanide quickly create an illusion around herself and Anedo. At least they wouldn't be seen by the enemy for a while. Naruto, however, wasn't so worried about himself. He didn't need an illusion to hide himself. He wanted to fight them and get their scroll.

All three kunai hit the log Naruto used to make his kawarimi. They were a good aim, apparently. Naruto threw two shuriken, just to bring the enemy ninja out in the open. And it worked. Much to his surprise, it was the three grass ninja that had tried to attack him before the first part of the exam. He grinned. This was going to be fun.

He motioned for two of the clones to go in and attack. One of them pulled out a windmill shuriken, whilst the other prepared a rasengan.

One of the grass ninja moved into a rigid stance and started to perform seals. "_Suiton! Water dragon no jutsu!_"

The grass around them turned yellow, and the leaves dried to a crisp, as the water was sucked out of the surrounding area. A dragon larger than was Naruto was anticipating roared up into the sky and wound itself around the large branches of the trees. He smiled. He'd been waiting for a time to test out this new ability of his in battle.

The kyuubi had taught him a lot about recognizing the different elements of chakra. The five different elements were fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. Each person was more inclined to one element from all of the others, and some could do two different elements at once. Naruto realized that Sasuke, for example, was inclined for both fire and lightning. Naruto, while he could use both earth and water, was exceptionally inclined for wind. Wind elemental techniques were prime for battle use, and could cut through just about anything. He could hardly wait to cut through that water dragon.

The beast of water charged him. Naruto pulled out the knives with finger holes from his pouch and slipped them on. They were very similar to the ones Asuma-sensei used. He almost felt like he was copying, but they were a damn good idea. In times like these, it was nice to have them. With a little chakra infused into those blades, they split the water dragon like a hot knife through soft butter.

"Damn brat!" A different ninja said. "I've had enough!" He started to perform a very familiar sequence of seals.

Naruto landed in front of a tree. He could sense Anedo and Kanide behind it. "You two!" He said. "Stay back!"

The grass ninja slammed his hand down into the ground. "_Kuchiyose no jutsu!_"

In a puff of smoke, a thirty foot snake loomed into existence. The grass nin on top of it laughed. "Attack!" he roared.

Naruto braced himself. He was really getting to hate snakes. At least it wasn't Menda. He could deal with this one. It was very similar to the one that had swallowed him on his first exam. He didn't _really_ want to get eaten again, but it _was_ easier to destroy it from the inside than out...

Anedo screamed when Naruto vanished inside of the massive jaws of the snake.

The grass shinobi smiled. This had been _so_ easy. That brat had nothing to brag about anyway.

"_Taiju kage bunshin no jutsu!_" the muffled cry came from within the snake. The neck of the snake began to grow stange looking lumps, as though balls were rumbling around inside of it. It got bigger and bigger, until it finally exploded in a shower of red and snake skin. Naruto, finally free of the wretched creature, rounded on the stunned shinobi attacking him. He bit his thumb and concentrated. He _really_ needed the correct summon. Gamabunta would be overkill, and Gamakichi wouldn't be enough. He performed the seals. "_Kuchiyose no jutsu!_"

Yes! It worked! The quiet frog warrior that Jiraiya was always so inclined to summon sat in front of him. "Quickly! Let's tie them up!"

The frog lashed out with its tongue. The sticky organ wrapped itself around two of the ninjas and held them firmly in place. The third one, Naruto charged. He pulled a thin but hard string out of his pack and attached one end to a kunai. The other end he hung on to. He moved fast enough that the grass ninja couldn't react in time. He was suddenly wrapped up in nearly invisible wire, and a seething Naruto was on top of his back, pushing down painfully hard with his knee.

"Who came to visit the Village Hidden in the Grass," Naruto growled. "I know who owns the snake contract. Who came to visit!" He pushed the edge of one of his knuckle blades against the artery in the man's neck.

"I...I don't know," he stuttered.

"Liar!" Naruto pushed his knee in harder. A rib or two snapped.

The ninja gasped in pain. "Oro...Orochimaru...he said he was looking for some good, strong ninja to join him in the Sound Village. He offered power, and the snake summoning was just one of the things he offered to a few to entice us..."

That sounded awfully suspicious. After all, as far as Naruto could tell, a person would want to guard their summoning contract jealously, so that others could not use the same summon against them. Why would Orochimaru use the contract just to get more henchmen? Or was it a lesser summoning? Or could it have even been fake somehow...? It just didn't make sense.

"Give me your scroll, and no one dies."

"My pouch!" the ninja cried. "It's in my pouch!"

One of Naruto's clones grabbed it. Naruto, without commenting even further, knocked the guy unconscious, then did the same to the others, thus allowing the frog summon to leave. Once he was finished, he looked at the seal that was on the scroll.

The heaven scroll. Thank goodness they had the right one.

"That was...that was..." Anedo tried to get out.

"Amazing," Kanide finished.

The blonde teenager scratched at the back of his head and chuckled. "Of course! I'm going to be Hokage one day! It couldn't be anything _but_ amazing!"

'_Baka. That fight was clumsy, and you know it. You left yourself open _everywhere._ I thought I taught you better than that._'

Naruto visibly darkened. '_You taught me just fine! I knew what I was doing! Besides, you don't actually _know_ that many taijutsu styles! I know more than you do!_'

'_Not very many humans that battled me knew taijutsu either. Everyone thought that ninjutsu and kinjutsu was the way to defeat me. Hehe...their memories still make me laugh...' _

Their...memories? '_What do you mean, 'their memories?' As in you have them?' _

He could hear the demon purr. '_Do you really think I have a blood lust for nothing? When I tasted my first bite of human blood, memories and power surged through me. When I ate someone, I consumed their _everything._ And the more I ate, the more I wanted. Why do you actually think I have knowledge of human seals and techniques when I can't even _use_ them? This is the knowledge of all of those past that have tried to defeat me.' _

Naruto suddenly felt sick. It couldn't be...All of those people..._thousands..._His knees buckled. "No," he whispered.

'_Funny no one ever sent medical specialists after me. Guess they needed them to try and patch up whoever I was attacking...hehehehehe...' _

Naruto's stomach suddenly decided it didn't want to keep down the food he'd just recently eaten. He was using the knowledge of _thousands_ of shinobi, good and bad alike, that had tried to defeat the kyuubi. He felt like a thief, and he was defiling their deaths. _I can't do this..._

"Naruto!" the girls cried. "You must be tired! There were so many clones! How are you still conscious to begin with?" Anedo reasoned.

He shook his head. He couldn't dwell on this now. He had to get through the exam. "I'm fine girls. I just realized something...that's all..."

He'd have to tell someone. Jiraiya? Kaka-sensei? The Hokage? Oh _God..._

He stood up again. "Let's go. We're done in the forest."

The two of them were more confused than they'd ever been in their life. They couldn't question, however, for just as they were about to Naruto leaped up into the trees and dashed towards the center of the Forest of Death. _I hate this forest. I hope to never have to enter it again._

And with that, they made their way to the tower.

_xxxxx_

Well, reviews are mixed. Some are positive, some are neutral. '_Some regurgitation, lack of creativity,'_ blah blah blah...jeez, folks. Three chapters into it. Give the plot some time to develop, okay? Miracles don't happen overnight. I need _setting_ and _background_ before _story_ can unfold. One thing at a time. And please believe me, I don't leave loose ends hanging around. Everything will be gotten to eventually, when it's supposed to be revealed. (Like Hinata's crush on Naruto. Since _when_ have I had time to just squash that in? Besides, nothing has even happened yet between Naruto and Sakura. Hinata is going to find out about the two of them though. Oh _trust _me, is she going to find out. Hehehe...) Patience is a virtue! Fluff, drama, and action are coming in due time! We need a Chuunin Naruto before we can get to anything else, though, so this must come first.

And sorry for the shortness of the chapter. This is all the rest that I had written up. I'm going on vacation for a few days, and will be unable to post till next week. Sorry. I will be back to this, though, so keep a look out!


	4. Sandy Mist

With the heaven scroll in his possession, Naruto and his team made it to the tower much earlier than the last time he took the exam

With the heaven scroll in his possession, Naruto and his team made it to the tower much earlier than the last time he took the exam.

Once inside, Naruto noticed only a few people there, and most of them looked pretty beat up. After all, the test in the Forest of Death was ruthless, and few made it out unscathed. "Okay," Naruto said at last. "This is where individual fights begin. You don't have to keep going after this, if you feel you're not up to it. You've both done great so far, though."

Anedo smiled. "Only thanks to you."

Naruto shrugged. "I couldn't have made it here without a team, after all. I needed you, too."

Kanide just gave him a sidelong look. _Only to qualify,_ the look said.

She was right, but Naruto wasn't going to say otherwise.

"Oi!" Naruto-nii-san!"

The blonde ninja turned and looked at the entrance. "Hey! Konohamaru! I didn't know you were taking the exam this time!"

Konohamaru, taller than the last time Naruto had seen him, walked in with his teammates, Moegi and Udon. Udon still looked sickly, but apparently was strong enough to cut it as a ninja. Moegi was taller too, and just starting to develop her adult body. Her eyes looked bright and sharp, and not tired like many of the other Genin looked.

Naruto felt a little giddy. "Ne, Konohamaru, I may have to fight you, ya know."

The grandson of the Third Hokage grinned. "I'm gonna beat you, if we do!"

'_That boy doesn't have a chance in hell of defeating us,'_ the kyuubi spat. '_He may be of the Sarutobi clan, but he has a long way to go before he develops enough skill to even put a scratch on your forehead protector.'_

"No way!" Naruto said, ignoring what the demon had to say. "I'm going to be Hokage, after all. I can't lose here!" He just hoped that he _didn't_ have to fight Konohamaru, because he was rooting for them to pass as well.

"Ne, Konohamaru-chan," Moegi said next to him, "I'm hungry! Are we completely out of food?"

On cue, everyone's stomach growled. Naruto agreed with her, and wished for a nice big bowl of ramen right then.

Udon's face turned red with a blush. "Eh, sorry, Moegi-chan. I kind of lost our food in that last fight."

Konohamaru crossed his arms and nodded, apparently too put out to comment.

Three by three, a few more groups trickled into the tower. The later the group came in, the worse they looked. Naruto was glad his group got in as soon as they did.

Kanide and Anedo stood next to each other and shared a whispered conversation. Naruto wondered if they were discussing whether or not to stay in the competition. Kanide had a fighting chance, but Anedo he wasn't so sure about. Unless she was good with weapons and fast moving, he doubted she'd even be able to land a punch on her opponent.

Evening passed. Naruto took the time to get some sleep, napping against the wall on the partial second level. Anedo and Kanide sat on either side of him. They didn't stray too far away from him, apparently wary of the other Genin in the tower.

By the evening of the fourth day, Naruto decided it was time for them to open up their scrolls. Anedo and Kanide watched curiously as Naruto untied the scrolls and let them slide open. Large tufts of smoke lifted out of the scrolls and swirled up into the air. There was a 'poosh!' noise, and once the smoke finally cleared, Hagane Kotetsu was standing in front of them. "Girls!" he smiled warmly. "I'm glad to see you've made it through the forest. Roku sends his best, and said he wishes he could have taken it too."

Kanide smiled. "He'll be able to take it in six months. I'm sure he'll pass."

Kotetsu smiled, then shifted his gaze to Naruto. "Thanks for taking care of my girls in the forest. I'm glad they were with you this time. And," here, he held up his forefinger and shook it in warning. "Don't underestimate them in the upcoming battles. They're stronger than they look."

Naruto gave him his nice guy pose. "You bet!" He grinned. He couldn't wait till the fights started.

"_All right, you maggots! Line up!"_

Temari was standing at the front of the room with other Jounin around her, all of them surrounded by the remnants of ninja smoke from their entrance. She was the one that had shouted at everyone to line up. Naruto eagerly ran up and stood in line. His two teammates ran up and stood next to him. Naruto noticed, once he finally got the chance to gaze at everyone up there, that Shikamaru was standing there as well, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Temari cleared her throat to gather everyone's attention. "Listen up, everyone. There are too many of you left, so we're going to have to have a competition between those of you that are here."

Naruto felt the eyes of all of the Genin look around at each other, most of them in the attempt to size up their potential opponents. Naruto could only grin. This was the part that he would be good at.

"However," Shikamaru spoke up, "for those of you that have been in the Chuunin exam before, things are going to be a little different this time."

Naruto looked up and watched as the Chuunin smirked, an unusual thing for him to do. Smirking usually took too much energy. "For this part of the exam, you will be paired up with a person at random. They may be one of your teammates, or they may be a complete stranger. When a Chuunin takes on a mission, they are not always with the same four man cell they were placed in as Genin. A Chuunin needs to be able to adapt to the situation quickly and efficiently. During this battle, you and your partner must take on two opponents together. Teamwork is the key to success. The first team to have a member be declared unfit to fight loses. Neither of them will be allowed to move on to the finals."

"_What?" _Naruto barked. He pointed an accusatory finger at Shikamaru. "This was your idea, you bastard, wasn't it?"

Again, Shikamaru smirked, but this time it was directed at Naruto.

"Quiet, worm! Have some respect for your superiors!" Temari growled at him.

Naruto Scowled. _'That prick,'_ he thought to himself. _"He did this on purpose. I was never very good at keeping my teammates completely covered. This sucks! I think he's been hanging around Asuma-sensei a little too much...'_

"Everyone, please move up to the second level in order to watch the battles of your peers and await your turn."

Naruto grumbled and fumed as he made his way up the stairs. Only the gods knew who he'd be paired up with. Konohamaru, perhaps? That wouldn't be so bad...

Anedo and Kanide followed silently along behind him. He just prayed that he didn't get paired up with Anedo. According to her chart, she wasn't much good at _anything._

The first names to appear on the large screen up on the wall Naruto didn't recognize. By looking at the forehead protectors of the four people that descended to the main floor, two of them were from the Village Hidden in the Grass, one of them was from the Village Hidden in the Mist, and one of them was from Sand. The fight didn't last long, as the Sand ninja was especially adept at group coverage. While he covered his new partner's back, the Grass shinobi that was his partner forced the Mist ninja to collapse in a heap on the floor, blood oozing out of their mouths.

Naruto looked up at the screen when the fight had finally ended and the floor had been cleared. The screen lit up, and names began to flash rapidly. Finally, it came to a stop, and Naruto read the names carefully.

_Uzumaki Naruto and Hakuni Anedo_

_vs._

_Aruso Hekeki and Usehi Jirusu _

Oh, _no..._ Did the heavens really hate him that much? _Anedo_ was his partner? Naruto felt like punching something.

Anedo's face paled, shocked that her name came up so quickly. At least Naruto was her partner. She might have a sporting chance...

Of course, by the sneer on Naruto's face, he didn't look too happy about it. This might be harder than she thought. She would have to try hard to not get in his way.

With a growl, Naruto vaulted over the railing and descended to the first floor. Anedo used the stairs.

One ninja was from the Village Hidden in the Clouds. One of the five main powers, the Hidden Cloud Village was a mystery. Naruto had only encountered them a couple of times on his trip with Jiraiya, and both times had not been very pleasant. They seemed to know how to use lightning in rather unpleasant ways. Jiraiya had been grumpier than normal for a solid week after each encounter with them. At the time, Naruto felt lucky to be alive after those fights.

'_Use the memories,'_ the Kyuubi whispered in his mind.

'_No,' _Naruto insisted. '_I won't.'_

'_You'll fail.'_

'_Why would you care if I fail? I thought you just wanted to make me miserable?! Aren't I the pathetic flesh bag that is your cage?' _

The growl that entered his head was louder than usual. He felt his ears ring. _'If I must be jailed, I'd rather it not be by some useless, disgusting creature! Save me from further embarrassment of your failures! At least make yourself worthy of being my cage!!' _

Of all the ridiculous things… It was the beast's stupid pride that pushed Naruto to become better. He sighed, and slightly shook his head. _I'll never be rid of this headache…_

"Naruto," Anedo whispered. "I'm sorry. W-we… we can do this."

Naruto looked over at his teammate. Her face was pale, and her skin was flushed. She looked downright afraid. This did confuse him, to some degree. A true ninja should not be afraid. She should have known what she was getting herself into when she entered this exam.

Was she just now realizing that this was over her head? That Naruto would, once again, fail the Chuunin exam, all because she simply entered the exam too early?

'_Look at your hands, imbecile. She's probably afraid of you, as she very well should be.' _

Naruto did look at his hands, even though he hated taking the demon's advice. They were curled up into tight fists. His muscles were tensed. It was then, too, that he suddenly felt the frown on his face, and how his eyebrows were scrunched down near his eyes.

He must have looked nearly livid. _I'm letting myself get worked up again, just like I always do. _

He forced his face to go smooth, and relaxed his muscles. This time when he looked back at her, it was with a softer grin. "Don't worry, Anedo. We'll both win this. I promise."

The shake of her hands went away just a little, and she nodded. Perhaps Naruto was imagining things, but it seemed like a little bit of trust seeped back into her eyes.

"Quit chatting, kids! I want to pummel you into the ground now, not after you've finished encouraging yourselves."

Naruto noticed for the first time the second person that he'd have to fight. It was a Sand ninja. He was a tall boy, with dark lines of Kohl under his eyes, and very dark skin.

"Ready!" Shikamaru yelled. He held one hand up in the air, then brought it down when he spoke again. "Begin!"

Before he even thought about it, Naruto created twenty shadow clones. They surrounded Anedo, both to protect her and figure out what they were going to do. "Anedo," he whispered to her. "What are you best at?"

She fumbled with her pack at her side and hastily pulled out some ninja wire and kunai. "Traps," she whispered back. "And masking them with a little Genjutsu."

Naruto nodded. "Good. I think I have a plan."

Kanide was watching from above. At the moment, she was having a hard time picking out her other teammate amongst the sea of black and orange that was Naruto's clones. It seemed that their opponents could see her, either, for as they punched their way through the clones and smoke they created, they used more curse words than even Kotetsu-sensei had let slip on their worst mission.

"_Rasengan!"_ was the chorus of about twelve of the clones as they charged the Cloud and the Sand Genin. Swirling blue chakra was actually visible in their hands, and it caused the smoke of the extinguished clones to swirl about in several mini tornadoes. One clone actually hit his mark. The sand nin gave a powerful grunt as he clutched at his stomach.

"This is stupid!" the Cloud nin yelled. He began to make seals. Kanide didn't recognize the technique right away. "_Omotai no Kiri no Jutsu!" _

The air of the fighting arena became incredibly thick, sticky, and cold. Kanide was sure it was so thick it could be sliced away with a knife. An impenetrable mist covered everything. None of the viewers could see what was going on.

The only thing that was visible was the flashes of lightning that lit up the dark mist. They could barely hear the voices inside calling out jutsu after jutsu.

Kanide clutched her hands at her chest. "Oh, Anedo…" Her teammate stressed out far too easily in situations like this. She preferred to be the hunter looking directly at her prey. When she didn't know where everything was, she was prone to panic.

A girl screamed. Kanide felt her heart jump up into her throat.

"_Risankaze no jutsu!"_

A brutal wind erupted from the left side of the arena. It forced the heavy mist to start to dissipate. Tiny grains of sand started to fall to the ground.

Kanide held her breath as she searched for Naruto and Anedo.

The Sand ninja was sporting a broken arm, and the Cloud ninja looked quite winded. Despite this, though, they still looked in better shape than Naruto and Anedo.

Naruto was on his knees, attempting to stand up. A long trickle of blood was falling steadily from the corner of his mouth. One eye was swollen shut, with long trails of sand leading away from the purple and yellow bruised flesh.

Anedo wasn't even bothering to try and stand. There was not only sand and tears from her swollen eyes, but blood as well. One part of her skull looked like it was smashed into the ground, for her hair was heavily matted in a tangle of blood and debri. She held her ribs as gently as if they'd been broken.

"Anedo!" She cried out. "Don't keep fighting like that! Give up! It's not worth your life! We'll try again next time! Please!"

The Cloud nin laughed. "That's right. Listen to your teammate, little girl. You're no match against us."

The brown haired Genin coughed up a small splatter of blood. "You'll have to make me give up."

Naruto pointed his index finger at them. "Come on, you losers! I'll bet I can beat you into the ground blind if I have to!"

The sand ninja growled. It seemed clear that he couldn't let his pride be wounded. "With pleasure!" he barked. Together, he and his teammate charged.

Anedo cried out when the Cloud nin's fist connected with her nose, and Naruto grunted when he didn't dodge the kick to his stomach.

And then there was a loud '_click_' and a dozen wires sprang up from the ground that a moment ago weren't there.

Kanide watched in awe as another Anedo shimmered into existence and raced around her enemies, ninja wire in hand and a kunai in her teeth. Naruto pulled at the wires, too, and the Cloud and Sand nin were immediately pinned to the ground. The injured Naruto and Anedo vanished into puffs of smoke. They had merely been shadow clones.

Anedo landed off to the side and pulled at her ends, holding the rope firmly in place. "Now, Naruto!"

The blonde ninja flipped through a long series of seals that Kanide didn't recognize. "_Odama Rasengan!"_

An unbelievable amount of vivid blue chakra welled up in his hand, and he charged with hesitation. He went straight for the Sand Genin.

Anedo's kunai went straight for the Cloud Genin.

It was a good thing she threw her kunai, too, because just before Naruto's attack hit, the Cloud ninja was already trying to perform seals. His arms were bound tightly to his chest, but his hands were still together, and he was actually making progress.

Anedo was a good aim, because her kunai went straight into his arm, right above his elbow. The ninja cried out and stopped mid-seal. It was his undoing, because Naruto hit the sand ninja, who cried out sharply but abruptly, for he passed out before he could even finished screaming.

"Winners; Uzumaki, Naruto and Hakuni, Anedo," Shikamaru said.

Naruto couldn't help but yell out in joy. "Hahaaa! We did it!" He danced around in a little circle. "Way to go, Anedo! Wohooo!"

She smiled tiredly. Naruto's plan actually worked. Thank goodness. She sighed in relief.

"Next up! Seneshou, Kanide and Sarutobi Konohamaru versus Ikeno, Yumi and Gin, Kogane!"


End file.
